From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The 115 Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Nigerian Air Force, under the air component of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), said it has destroyed 49 illegal refineries, various cooking tanks, and over 20 large crude oil reservoirs used by oil thieves in the Niger Delta in the last five months.
The Commander, 115 Special Operations Group (SOG), Group Captain Abdulafeez Opaleye, who made this known, said it has not recorded any civilian casualties as its operations are targeted solely on oil thieves and nothing more.
He stated this during a briefing with Defence correspondents on a media tour of military operations in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to him, precision air strikes carried out by attack helicopters led to the destruction of 16 large boats used for crude oil siphoning, which has effectively reduced operations of oil thieves and economic saboteurs of the country.
Opaleye said that the anti-crude oil theft missions were executed with a total of 172 sorties, with fighter and surveillance aircraft accumulating 268 hours and 40 minutes of flight time, consuming 87,938 litres of Jet A1 fuel.
He boasted that the daring operations have forced oil thieves and other criminals to flee their hideouts and abandoned illegal refining sites.
He specifically cited a notable precision air raid at Egbema Ohaji on March 27, which neutralised a major illegal refining hub.
The commander further emphasised the unit’s expertise in conducting various air missions, including precision strikes during day and night, close air support, armed escort, air interdiction, combat air patrols, and casualty evacuation.
While noting that efforts are on-going to reactivate a Mi-35P helicopter to enhance the group’s firepower to carry out its mandate, the commander said that Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) deployed from Nigerian Air Force Headquarters has no doubt boosted mission success.